Write about one of the two cultural events you attended. What did you take away from the experience and/or what questions did it raise for you? How relevant was it to our class?
I attended an event talking about gender-based violence and eugenic practices in Guatemala. In the talk, they talked how Ubico- former dictator of Guatemala- implemented eugenics on a racial basis. Ie. he wanted to “whiten” Guatemaltecans and make sure the population did not have disabilities or diseases. Under Ubico, prostitutes (who were women generally more open about their sexuality not necessarily sex workers), rural workers and single mothers were tested for different diseases in fear of them transmitting diseases to their children.
This practice deepened classism in Guatemala, where family mothers would support the persecution of prostitutes so they [mothers] would not be under scrutiny themselves. They also made clear criteria to separate “fit” mothers from “unfit” mothers. Ubico backed up his actions with scientific evidence based on Mendelian and Lamarckian “racial” theories.
In connection to post colonization Guatemala, and what we learned about the importance of family after the separation with the catholic church, we can see clear post-colonial traces of white superiority and the need to have a “better” population so they could fit into the requirements of the new world. I also find interesting how even local presidents from Latin America would treat their own populations slightly better than the colonizers, which could be one of the reasons of the ongoing violence in Latam. Although presidents are from the people, they still exploit their position of power by ensuring population is worse off.
Hi Iasa!
Thanks for sharing what you took away from this cultural event. I find it very odd that, as you said, local presidents still mistreat their people – you would think that they would want to make their own people better off rather than continuing to exploit them. This reminds me of what we talked about in class last Thursday with there being so many corrupt politicians in many Latin American countries. Perhaps many Latin American presidents continue to mistreat their own people for personal gain, and just accept the guilt (or don’t have any) of making millions of people worse off to make themselves better off.
Hi Iasa!
I did not attend this event, but it seems very interesting! This topic reminds me of Dr. Wertheimer’s talk about Gloria’s Story and concubinage in Guatemala. Sexism and gender discrimination seems to be an ongoing problem in Guatemala. I wonder if there is any backlash from women in Guatemala.